The
quest for alternative fuel sources that are cleaner, cheaper, and
more abundant than traditional fossil fuels is underway around the
world. Researchers are studying everything from battery
power to solar energy and fuel cells.

Fuel cells hold
great promise and have long been studied as alternatives to fossil
fuels. Traditionally, the problems plaguing fuel cell-powered
vehicles that run from hydrogen include how to produce the hydrogen
cheaply and how to store it safely. Despite issues that still
surround fuel cell-powered vehicles, a study
conducted in June by Pike Research found that within the
next decade 670,000 fuel cell powered vehicles would be sold each
year.

Researchers at the Cornell University Energy Materials
Center have made a breakthrough discovery that will make hydrogen
fuel cell power much more economical. The breakthrough comes in the
form of a new
catalyst that uses platinum nanoparticles. Platinum is
traditionally used in fuel cells as the catalyst, but platinum is
expensive and can be easily deactivated in the presence of even low
levels of carbon monoxide rendering the fuel cell inoperable.

The
Cornell researchers have discovered a method of making the platinum
catalyst able to withstand thousands of times more carbon monoxide.
The process also makes the platinum catalyst material much cheaper to
produce. The team created the catalyst using platinum nano particles
that are deposited on a support material of titanium oxide. The team
then added tungsten to increase the electrical conductivity of the
catalyst. The resulting platinum catalyst is 2,000 times more
resistant to carbon monoxide than a catalyst using pure
platinum.

That higher resistance to carbon monoxide
means that the fuel cell can burn hydrogen with as much as 2% carbon
monoxide in it. The researchers say this is very important because
hydrogen derived from petroleum has a high concentration of carbon
monoxide in it. The ability for the catalyst to withstand more carbon
monoxide eliminates the need to clean the hydrogen as much, thereby
reducing the cost of making hydrogen.

"Well, we didn't have anyone in line that got shot waiting for our system." -- Nintendo of America Vice President Perrin Kaplan